YouTube Gambling Website Shutdown, Program to Be Phased Out as Well

The YouTube Gaming site will redirect users to a different destination for gaming videos on YouTube itself while the YouTube Gaming program is going to be phased out by March 2019. The cause of this movement is to make sure it reaches more players through YouTube instead of a specialised, standalone site and app. Existing features like Super Chat and Channel Memberships will be carried over to the main YouTube experience. “We have a strong and vibrant audience about the YouTube Gaming app, but the number of gamers we can achieve is far larger on YouTube,” wrote YouTube’s Manager of Product Management, Christina Chen on the organization’s official blog. “After all, YouTube is where over 200 million players come to engage with your favorite games and founders every single day, seeing over 50 billion hours of gambling content in the last 12 months alone. That is why, in March 2019, we’ll retire the YouTube Gaming app and focus all our gambling attempts on YouTube where we can reach our entire gaming community”

During its India launch back in 2016, YouTube Gambling consumption tendencies in the country have been skewed towards games on traditional formats like the PS4 and Xbox One.

“In terms of overall YouTube intake, Indian viewers are definitely mobile first, with 55% of overall watch time in India coming out of cellular,” said Ines Cha, Head of Gaming Content and Partnerships for YouTube Asia Pacific in conversation with Gadgets 360.

“Within the gamer community we’re still seeing games console games dominate but as I said, mobile games are gaining ascendance amongst casual players”

Nonetheless, we wonder how popular YouTube Gaming really is. According to Variety mentioning Program Annie information, Twitch’s Android program was the 15th hottest entertainment app on Google’s Play Store while YouTube Gambling was number 283.